Tue, Nov 3, 2009
LSD, a hallucinogenic street drug, was outlawed in 1970 but gained the status of being a tool of the counterculture, being able to inspire glimpses of genius or madness. Its volatile nature led Albert Hoffman, the Swiss discoverer of the drug, to believe that it is a tool that can either help attain or destroy one's potential. New experiments have shown that LSD may have a pharmaceutical purpose. Inside LSD explores the psychedelic world and why this drug could become part of the pharmaceutical toolkit, potentially being able to improve brain power, creativity, and fight disease.
Tue, Nov 24, 2009
Travel back 66 million years ago when a meteor struck the Earth, wiping out three-quarters of all life on the planet. What happened in those first hours? Why did some creatures survive while nearly all others perished? Using computer graphics and real-world recreations, National Geographic reveals the likely effects of the catastrophic impact that changed the world forever and examines who won, who lost, and why.
Sun, Nov 29, 2009
Auschwitz, 1943. Joseph Mengele - the Nazi doctor known as "Angel of Death " - conducts a series of horrific human experiments. Experiments designed to determine if twins hold the key to building a blond-haired, blue-eyed master race for Adolf Hitler. Now a writer says he has evidence that the fertility experiments may not have ended, but secretly continued, 20 years later, deep in the Brazilian outback. There, in a tiny farming town, among the 80 households are some 44 pairs of twins. Blond, blue-eyed twins. With exclusive access to the secret agents that trailed him, to the scientists now uncovering the facts behind the fantastical phenomenon we go inside the largest investigation ever launched to find the definitive answer. Did Mengele unlock the Secret of the Twins?
Tue, Feb 23, 2010
During an excavation on an island off of Venice, explorers discovers a mass gravesite of what seem to be victims of the black death in the 16th century. One unusual skull caught their attention. There was a brick shoved into the skull's mouth. Top Italian Forensics investigates why.
Tue, Apr 20, 2010
Meet the scientists, adventurers, and engineers who are determined to launch a mission to Europa - and follow them through the challenges, frustrations, and triumphs that come with planning a distant mission to an alien world. Through CGI and quests to the edge of our planet, National Geographic goes on a journey to an alien moon to answer the basic question: are we alone in the universe?
Tue, Apr 27, 2010
An extremely rare genetic disease passed down through generations, fatal familial insomnia's (FFI) primary symptom is sleeplessness, but with a fatal twist: victims are dead within months. National Geographic delves into the science of sleep to find out why we need sleep and what happens to us when we don't get it. Witness the pioneering research inside the sleeping brain as well as the mind forbidden to rest for days at a time.
Tue, Aug 17, 2010
Using information from the investigation following the dropping of the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, this documentary outlines the immediate 24 hours following the massive explosion. The first atomic bomb contained 140 lbs of enriched uranium and reduced the downtown to a wasteland with 70,000 people killed immediately. Another 40,000 died three days later when a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. The Army spent 10 weeks studying the impact of the explosion focusing on thermal flash. The immediate impact was that some were vaporized leaving only atomic shadows. Triangulating these led them to conclude that the bomb exploded only a few hundred yards from its intended target. There was heavy damage for 3 miles in every direction. A great many were burned but there was very little information about radiation poisoning at the time. Today, scientists are still studying but the study continues today with the study of 120,000 Hiroshima survivors.
Tue, Aug 31, 2010
They are some of the most lethal substances on earth -- transmitted through food, water, the people around you or even the air you breathe. These are bioweapons, strains of bacteria and viruses that include the most feared diseases in human history. Now, imagine that you have just become the leader of your nation and new intelligence confirms that terrorists are trying to make and unleash a biological weapon in one of your cities. What are their chances for success? National Geographic reveals a surprising picture of what could happen during a biological attack by examining potential scenarios, vulnerabilities, historical instances and the steps we can take to protect ourselves from the world's most dangerous pathogens.